By Daniel Bampoe
Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Awentami Afoko, has formally submitted his nomination to contest the party’s National Chairmanship, declaring that his return to the race is driven by a desire to unite the party, rebuild its grassroots structures and prepare it to recapture political power in 2028.
Paul Afoko submitted his nomination at the NPP headquarters in Accra on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, where he addressed party executives, elders, Members of Parliament, TESCON members, women, youth, the media and other supporters.
In his address, Afoko was careful to distinguish the submission of his nomination papers from actually securing the chairmanship. He stressed that filing his nomination did not make him National Chairman and that the ultimate decision rested with the delegates of the party.
He said he approached the contest with humility and gratitude, but above all with confidence that the NPP could recover from its recent difficulties and emerge stronger.
Afoko said his decision to return to the chairmanship contest followed months of travelling across the country, listening to party members and engaging various levels of the party’s organisational structure.
He said his engagements had included meetings with party elders, regional and constituency executives, polling station officers, communicators, young members, women, MPs, former executives and ordinary party members.
According to him, those interactions revealed widespread frustration within the party but also a strong desire among members to see the NPP reunite.
He said members were demanding a party in which every supporter felt a sense of belonging, an organisation that was disciplined and respected, and a grassroots structure that remained active throughout the political cycle rather than becoming important only when elections were approaching.
Afoko said the ultimate expectation he heard from members was the desire to build an NPP capable of returning to government in 2028.
The former chairman said his candidature was not motivated by a desire to occupy a position he had already held.
He argued that his previous experience in the office had exposed him to both its privileges and responsibilities, as well as the consequences of decisions taken by the National Chairman.
Afoko said he was seeking another mandate because he believed the experience and lessons accumulated from his previous tenure could help address the challenges confronting the party.
He therefore urged delegates to view his candidature not simply as an attempt to return to an office he once occupied, but as an offer of experience that could be applied to the party’s future.
Afoko’s campaign is built around three central objectives: Reunite, Reorganise and Recapture.
On unity, he acknowledged that the NPP had gone through difficult internal contests that had left some members hurt, tested friendships and created competing groups within the party.
He argued that the NPP could not afford to operate as separate organisations based on which candidate members supported during previous internal elections.
Afoko said that, if elected, he would enter office without enemies to punish, scores to settle or factions to reward.
He said his previous experiences had not created bitterness and insisted that the NPP was bigger than any individual, including himself.
He also extended a conciliatory message to his fellow contestants, describing them not as enemies but as fellow Patriots competing for positions within the same political family.
